So yeah, after lurking these forums for quite some time now I've come to the conclusion that there are a bunch of old dogs with decades worth of flight experience under their belts. Anybody got any stories of any major/minor failures you had to deal with up front over the years? I just finished watching The Pilot (great movie btw) and the highspeed stall scene got me wondering how often occurances like that could have happend.

Minor, major, you name it.

So yeah, story time.

I did a little bit of searching (when I say little bit I really mean it..) and didn't seem to find a thread like this so if this type of thing has been discussed in the past then let me know. So I'm going to go ahead and click this "Submit New Thread" button and I'll hope that the flaming will be to a minimum if this type of thing has been discussed a few hundred times already.

 

Here's a few things that have happened to me over the past 10 years:

Partial Power loss in a single engine Cessna in the pattern. Ended up making it back to land. Cause: Bad fuel

Total electrical failure, IMC, at night in a single engine Piper. Flew partial panel for about 75 miles to VFR weather, and talked with ATC via a phone patch through FSS on my cellphone. Cause- alternator bearings came apart inflight.

False cargo fire shortly after departure in the CRJ. Blew the bottles, came back around and landed uneventfully.

3 Medical emergencies requiring special handling. (Heart attack, stroke, severe anxiety resulting in the passenger going crazy and trying to open the overwing exit)

Multiple EFIS tube failures (including 2 out of 3 on one flight)

But the scariest of them all was the night when right after takeoff on a redeye flight across the country (flying charter), the coffee maker broke!

 

I hope they didn't put that in the MEL!!! Gotta have coffee on those long night flights. I always take some on night cross-countries with my students.

 

HI Failure in IMC, 172 (x1)
Alternator failure at night, 172 (x2)
Static system malfunction, IMC, 172 (x1)
Slat/Flap failure, CRJ (numerous @ mesa)
APU failure, CRJ (numerous @ mesa)
APU Overtemp, CRJ (mesa), solid IMC 200' - FL350, one engine driven gen MEL'ed
Rapid Depressurization, CRJ (mesa) @350. This one was the most fun...space shuttle descent!

 

Engine Failure-LR35A DEN-MDW
Engine Failure-LR35A DEN-SLC
Engine Failure-A300 MEM-LAX
Green Hyd Loss-A300 LAX-MEM

and the worst of all...

FORGOT CATERING-A300 CDG-TLV

 

Ouch. But don't you guys at least have a few rats running in the back of those things?

 

Can't brag much about a radio failure...compared to yalls engine failures. I've yet to experience one of those. I'll count my lucky stars for now.

The coffee maker would make me shutter though...goodness. And catering...not sure how you handled that one! Good on both of you. :-D

 

Ah, the good old radio failure. I had one of those shortly after I got my PPL. Couldn't transmit but I could recieve. Then I had one week this year where it was one thing after another when I was flying with students. First was a flat right main after we taxied off the runway. Next day a door popped open on takeoff and then the next day we had our oil pressure spike about redline and stay there after doing steep spirals, mx said we had a congealed oil cooler. I know those are pretty weak compared to what you guys have experienced but hey that's all I got.

 

I don't know if I have bad luck or if it is just the old military planes that I have been flying....so here goes...

I have shut down engines more times than I can really even count. Including 3 times in 3 days for a fuel leak that they just couldn't seem to figure out on a C-5.

Multiple slat/flap failures (C-5)
Multiple APU failures (C-5)
Mulitple Hydraulic system losses/failures (C-5)
Smoke in the cockpit x2 (C-21/C-5)
Loss of pressurization (C-5)
Uncommanded rudder input (T-1)
Autopilot pitched 15 degrees nose up while flying 340 kias at 17,000 ft (C-21)
Crewmember collapsed over middle of the Pacific (C-5)

I will try to add more as I think of them.

P.S. - I can't wait to move up to a plane that has a coffee maker that works!!!

 

My dad's fokker had the right main gear collapse on touchdown. It was flight 1107 from CLT to DFW. Needless to say, it was his most memorable accident. It turned out to be a stress fracture from the manufacturer. Funny thing is, after all that, there was still a woman complaining that she wasn't going to make her connection.